Outdoors: Local mountain climber Paul Giorgio looks to give Sherpas their due

It's mountain climbing time in New England. Many are now summiting the 48 4,000-feet peaks of the White Mountains. But climbing season is over on Mt. Everest, ending prematurely in tragedy.

Millbury's legendary Paul Giorgio has climbed Mt. Everest six times, officially summiting it on four occasions (His two non-summiting expeditions were devoted to scientific purposes). Giorgio has been inspired by more than his surroundings. The highest hill in his hometown is barely over 800 feet.

Today, Giorgio, "on the backwards side of 50," is still climbing. He's able to tell his tale — something the Sherpas who died this past year under the Mt. Everest avalanche can't do. In an effort to help them and their families, he sympathetically shared their plight with me.

Giorgio himself was coincidentally hit by an avalanche in the very same spot of this year's tragedy and miraculously survived. "The only way to save yourself is to jump into a crevasse. You have to cover your mouth because breathing in ice particles is like breathing in glass. It burns inside your nose and throat."

In the crevasse, Giorgio precariously hung on a luckily positioned rope attached to a ladder. Most avalanche victims aren't so fortunate. At least 250 have died there and two or three Sherpas on average are lost every year. Last year five Sherpas died. and this year, in a tragedy that rocked their world, 17 were lost.

Sherpas do all the hard work and take most of the risks. All the climbers figuratively summit on their shoulders. They are the unsung heroes of Mt. Everest. Sherpas who summit Everest make more money. They consequently drive themselves more than they should for meager increments. But none of them brings home pay commensurate with their efforts and the dangers they face.

They shouldn't have been persuaded to subject themselves to the dangerous conditions on that fatal avalanche day. To add to the tragedy, the Nepalese government does not have adequate insurance to care for the families of Sherpas who die while climbing.

Recreational climbers succumb, of course, as well. Frequently, those lost are the youngest and strongest.

"Climbers physically peak between 25-35, but young climbers tend to be stupid," said Giorgio, who made his first ascent at 35. "They don't know their limits and aren't cautious. At 25 you fight through things. Their attitude of invincibility can get them into trouble. Older climbers tend to know their body."

Giorgio has a dim view of many of his fellow climbers.

"Climbing Mt. Everest can be an ugly scene," he said. "A large number of the climbers up there are selfish, extreme A-type personalities, the type who regard Everest as a trophy. Some would step on your throat to climb to the next level."

Climbers have left individuals in distress rather than interrupt their own ascent. Giorgio recalls a bad experience with a group of Russian climbers.

Giorgio ran to get a rope and pulled out the Sherpa. Afterward, he found the uncaring Russians drinking vodka at their camp — and for the sake of the Sherpa — punched each one of them.

Climbing Everest is expensive. According to Giorgio, it costs between $60,000 and $100,000 when the final tabs are all in. Government fees, Sherpas, oxygen tanks, yaks, food and tents aren't cheap. Sherpas are paid pathetically — mere hundreds of dollars for their herculean efforts — in spite of the fact that no climb can succeed without them.

Since yaks can carry gear only as far as base camp, there's no summiting without Sherpas. Someone is making a big profit from the climbers' government fees — but it isn't the Sherpas. They need and deserve both higher wages and greater life insurance.

Most climbers use oxygen that's carried up by the Sherpas. They often give up their own to their climbers. Giorgio doesn't use oxygen, as it burns his throat — in fact, he lost the lining of his esophagus from it. Those who do use it have a much easier time. "Grandma can go now" with it. Of course, grandma dies when she runs out.

Not everyone tries to go to the top. Besides the cost and pain, there's at least a 10 percent mortality factor to be concerned with. Trekkers can far more safely and less expensively go to base camp at 17,600 feet and from 18,800 feet get the best pictures. That usually costs only about $5,000. A helicopter is always flying to base camp, delivering supplies and picking up very sick people, many with severe altitude problems.

Those wanting to climb Everest might benefit from Giorgio's selection of essential equipment. His sleeping bag is a North Face 700 filled with duck belly down that will loft up to about one foot for extreme insulation. But if it gets wet, you're in trouble.

Boots?

"There a million good ones now like Columbia and Marmot," he said. "Vibram soles are key."

Currently, he uses $100 Dunhams, which he recently sent to Carbonneau's in Worcester to have resoled and waterproofed.

Unlike most Everest climbers, Giorgio is no fashion plate. His clothing is multi-colored and mismatched. He wears "whatever was on sale."

In addition, Giorgio always wears fleece and a down suit with a drop seat for bathroom moments.

Hydrating is critical during the ascent to Everest. It gets surprisingly hot in the bowl between the three mountains that include Lhotse (28,000 feet) and Nuptse (25,800 feet). The intense reflection of the sun often makes it brutal there.

Food on a summiting is terrible — especially for the underpaid Sherpas. They'll eat potatoes, rice, and maybe some eggs, lentils and tough yak meat. Giorgio always feeds his Sherpas high protein, finding they perform much better with a better diet. But Giorgio said many of the elite climbers "treat the Sherpas second class —like personal slaves,"

Bathrooms have typically been "a barrel under a rock throne," sat on while other trekkers walked by. Now, tents are providing a little privacy.

Almost every climber has sponsor signs on their clothing or tents. Without a sponsor, Giorgio derisively puts a "Millbury Dump" sign on his tent.

A meeting with Sir Edmund Hillary in 2001 inspired Giorgio to found the Everest Education Foundation to help the Sherpas. He's been pulling Sir Edmund Hillary's discarded equipment off the mountain for 14 years and has the support of Hillary's family.

From Hillary's camps, with the help of Sherpas, he's collected enough goggles, ice axes, picks, crampons and oxygen bottles to put on a world tour of artifacts like King Tut or Titanic. He needs to go one more time to bring down the last of Hillary's discardings and items like coffee and sardine tins. His goal is to take the tour profits to build new schools and renovate 63 others that Hillary originally built over 50 years ago for the Sherpa children. Those wishing to help Giorgio help the Sherpas can contact him at pdgiorgio@aol.com">pdgiorgio@aol.com.